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Category: Productivity

Adam Engst 69 comments

Office 2019 for Mac Goes Read-Only on 13 July 2026

On 13 July 2026, an expiring security certificate will force Office 2019 for Mac into read-only mode. Microsoft has shown no interest in releasing a fix, leaving users to upgrade or switch to alternatives.

Adam Engst 17 comments

BBEdit 16 Searches for Text in Images, Adds Shortcuts Actions, and More

After 34 years, BBEdit keeps finding new tricks. Version 16 searches for text inside images, brings powerful text transformations to Shortcuts, and adds per-project color schemes, among much else.

Adam Engst 21 comments

macOS Text Replacement Export/Import Works Great Until It Doesn’t

Apple lets you export and import text replacements by dragging them to and from the Text Replacements dialog. It’s great for backups and sharing, but if you try to import thousands of entries, such as from the TidBITS AutoCorrect Dictionary, things may fall apart unpredictably.

Julio Ojeda-Zapata 29 comments

Third-Party Gadgets Bring Find My Tracking to Wallets, Chargers, and More

Apple’s AirTags are indispensable for tracking down a missing purse or wayward suitcase, but the large lozenge shape isn’t ideal for all Find My scenarios. Third-party accessory makers have stepped in with a range of Find My trackers—Julio Ojeda-Zapata looks at a wallet, several wallet cards, a mobile charger, and a travel lock.

Adam Engst 1 comment

VidBITS: A Hookmark Walkthrough with Luc Beaudoin

Hookmark brings hyperlinking to your Mac, letting you connect files, emails, PDFs, and more. In this hour-long video demo, CogSciApps founder Luc Beaudoin shows how to copy links, create bidirectional hooks, and navigate your workspace efficiently.

Adam Engst 113 comments

Pages, Keynote, and Numbers 15 Go Freemium

Apple has folded Pages, Keynote, and Numbers into its Creator Studio subscription bundle, but the upgrade process has been confusing and the App Store ratings have cratered. Here’s what happened, what’s actually behind the paywall, and what you should do.

Adam Engst 78 comments

Apple Bundles Pro Apps into New Creator Studio Subscription

The new Apple Creator Studio subscription bundles Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, and more for $129 per year, but one-time purchases remain available for the Mac versions, so it’s worth doing the math before subscribing.

Adam Engst 37 comments

MacUpdater Shuts Down, Leaving Users Searching for Alternatives

CoreCode has stopped maintaining MacUpdater, the popular utility that tracked updates for over 100,000 Mac apps. If you relied on it to manage updates to all the apps on your Mac, here are some alternatives that might fill the gap.

Adam Engst 28 comments

Why I Use Multiple Screenshot Utilities on the Mac

For documentation work, one size doesn’t fit all. Adam Engst finds that ScreenFloat’s floating windows, export options with borders, and Shot Browser address editing and reuse challenges, while CleanShot X excels at combining screenshots. And he still falls back on macOS’s built-in screenshot utility for capturing menus with shadows.

Adam Engst 13 comments

ChatGPT Atlas Digitized Book Tables That Stymied Other OCR Tools

What started as a simple need—digitizing training pace tables for a workout app—became a test of OCR tools. ChatGPT Atlas won where others failed, autonomously processing five photos into perfect CSV data despite page curl and dense columns.

Adam Engst 21 comments

Does Deleting Voicemail Free Up iPhone Storage?

Voicemail messages are stored on your iPhone, but deleting them might not reduce the amount of space the Phone app uses. But investigating may reveal voicemails you want to preserve.

Joe Kissell 134 comments

Nisus Writer: Schrödinger’s Word Processor

The powerful word processor hasn’t seen an update in nearly a year, it has disappeared from the Mac App Store, and support responses have been slow or nonexistent for some time. There is writing on the wall, and it’s not looking good.

Adam Engst 30 comments

Support for FireWire Removed from macOS 26 Tahoe

macOS 26 Tahoe marks the end of an era as Apple removes support for FireWire, the high-speed connection technology that preceded today’s USB and Thunderbolt standards. Those who still rely on legacy FireWire devices through adapters will need to delay upgrades and make alternative plans.

Adam Engst 8 comments

Overlooked Details of the iPhone Air

While Apple’s iPhone Air announcement focused on its svelte design, several significant details flew under the radar. Adam Engst looks into the features and compromises that weren’t center stage during the announcement.

Adam Engst 11 comments

Atlassian Acquires The Browser Company for $610 Million

In an all-cash deal, Atlassian adds The Browser Company’s Arc and Dia to its suite of workplace tools. Hopefully, Atlassian will recognize the value in connecting Arc’s productivity features with Dia’s AI capabilities.